Bell Pond joins Largest Swimming Lesson

Wednesday

Jun 19, 2013 at 6:00 AMJun 19, 2013 at 11:08 AM

By Jacqueline Reis TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Slightly more than a month after a student from their school drowned at Bell Pond, three classes of fourth-graders from Belmont Street Community School stood at the water's edge with their toes in the sand.

They were there as part of the World's Largest Swimming Lesson, an annual event that stages simultaneous swim lessons around the globe and tries for a Guinness World Record. According to the Guinness website, the group set the record in 2011 with 19,322 participants in 235 locations. It will take a while to find out whether this year's attempt broke any records, Dr. Cathy Jones said.

Dr. Jones, of Princeton, is an emergency medicine doctor at HealthAlliance Hospital in Leominster and got in touch with the school after hearing about the May 3 drowning death of 10-year-old David Ndayishimiye.

David had gone to the pond with three other boys, one of whom stayed on the beach. None of the three who went in could swim.

There was no lifeguard at the beach; it is only staffed from noon to 7 p.m. July 1 through Aug. 11, according to William Soucy, the city's aquatics director.

On Tuesday, the students practiced with their arms, learned to keep their chin in the water, and watched proper kicking technique, all without getting wet above the knees.

They also heard that if someone is in trouble, children should get an adult as soon as possible and not go in after the person. Carly and Killian Dickson, Dr. Jones' teenaged children, demonstrated in the water, while swim instructors from Greenwood Swimming led lessons on shore with help from volunteers such as 11-year-old Katie Dickson.

“It was awesome,” said fourth-grader Rosa Rodriguez. She tried swim lessons once and would like to go again; so would fourth grader Josephina Hakizimana, who said she usually just wades in a little.

Susan Kline, assistant principal of Belmont Street School, said, “Very few of them have actually taken swim lessons.”

Dr. Jones said she hopes to spread the word that swimming lessons do not have to be expensive. They're available locally through the YMCA and YWCA, the Boys & Girls Club, Girls Inc. and from the city.

The city will offer free lessons at the pool at Crompton Park, and participants must sign up during the first week in July. Dr. Jones is working to add volunteers to those lessons so that in addition to the group instructor, helpers can work one-on-one with each learner.

Many of Belmont Street School's students live near the pond, which is shallow for a long ways and then drops off suddenly, Mr. Soucy said. The pond, which is fed by underground springs, also has an undertow, making it particularly dangerous for swimmers who go beyond the ropes that the city sets up each summer.

The school will dedicate a plaque and a memorial tree to David Ndayishimiye onThursday, Ms. Kline said.

Tuesday was Bell Pond's first time participating in the giant swimming lesson, and while the city wasn't ready for the kids to enter the water yet, organizers said it would be nice to do so in the future.

Bell Pond was one of six sites in Massachusetts that participated in the lesson. According to www.worldslargestswimminglesson.org, other Central Massachusetts locations included CoCo Key Water Resort in Fitchburg, Shrewsbury Health and Racquet Club and Tri-Community YMCA in Southbridge.

Contact Jacqueline Reis via email at jreis@telegram.com and follow her on Twitter @JackieReisTG.